The 2016 articulation of an urban agenda assumes building more highways, railways and trams will produce better, more productive cities that somehow give everyone a job.
It’s easy to get excited about smart city technology – but we need to think through the human consequences.
Much of the ‘smart cities’ rhetoric is dominated by the economic, with little reference to the natural world and its plight.
Ase from www.shutterstock.com
The rhetoric of ‘smart cities’ is dominated by the economic, with little reference to the natural world and its plight. Truly smart and resilient cities need to be more in tune with the planet.
Rather than create regulatory frameworks that allow innovations to thrive, governments have created hurdles to transformative applications like Uber or Airbnb.
Torrenegra/flickr
Carlo Ratti, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Governments too often hinder change, when instead they should aim to foster an organic innovation ecosystem. This is more about bottom-up innovation than top-down schemas.
Brisbane aspires to be a truly smart and connected city.
Marcus Foth
Australia’s Smart Cities Plan largely conveys a limited role for people: they live, work and consume. This neglects the rich body of work calling for better human engagement in smart cities.
Jane Jacobs holds up documentary evidence at a 1961 press conference during the campaign to save the West Village.
Wikimedia Commons
In an age of data-driven urban science, we need to remember how Jane Jacobs gave voice to the multiple languages, meanings, experiences and knowledge systems of a vibrant city.
Opponents of projects are often scorned as NIMBYs, but active citizenship and local consultation are key elements in creating a city that works well for as many people as possible.
Teresa Parker/AAP
Cities are home to many different people who will not always agree. We need to learn to embrace public debate as an ongoing, constructive process for working through diverse views and values.
While state and territory leaders will be partners, Malcolm Turnbull’s government intends to be the driver of a national policy for Australia’s cities.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Turnbull government’s cities policy is the latest incarnation of ‘the-Commonwealth-knows-best’ approach, with little regard for whether urban issues are best resolved at the metropolitan level.
Using incentives drawn from game play, the peak-hour crush can be reduced, or avoided altogether.
Stilgherrian/flickr
Using elements of game play, we can create incentives for people to change how and when they make various transport choices in ways that enable the whole system to work better.
The Green Growth Plan for Perth represents the first strategic environmental assessment of a whole city in Australia.
Richard Wainwright/AAP
With a strategic plan adopted, it not only shows where development should be avoided but clears the way for development in other areas. So Perth needs to get it right.
The budget doesn’t provide either the infrastructure investment or financing details needed to flesh out the Smart Cities Plan.
AAP/Mal Fairclough
The budget paints a picture of higher debt, little relief for growing cities crying out for infrastructure investment, and no detail of how City Deals might work to fix this.
The Smart Cities Plan sounds good, but the proof will be in the detail – all still to be worked out.
AAP/Mal Fairclough
The discussion paper makes all the right noises, but the proof of the policy will be in the detail of partnership arrangements and implementation structures, and in how new money is used.
Malcolm Turnbull outlines his vision of ‘City Deals’ that enable ‘smart cities’ to drive growth in the new economy.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Turnbull government sees the ‘City Deal’ as a way for ‘smart cities’ to drive innovation and growth. But what is the value proposition behind this UK concept and how might it work in Australia?
Melbourne is one of the fastest-growing cities in the developed world, and the other big Australian cities aren’t far behind.
AAP/David Crosling
With the failures of past planning now apparent, the unruly threat of a damaged and depleting planet is ushering us toward a fourth era of urban restructuring. What might City v4.0 look like?
In his ministerial reshuffle earlier this year, Malcolm Turnbull made Angus Taylor, an up-and-coming Liberal MP, the assistant minister for cities and digital transformation.
The ‘Lose Yourself in Melbourne’ ad was onto something: instead of being directed to the fastest or shortest route, some people might want to take a diverting detour.
'It's Easy to Lose Yourself in Melbourne', Tourism Victoria
If smart cities run on big data and algorithms that channel only ‘relevant’ information and opinions to us, how do we maintain the diversity of ideas and possibilities that drives truly smart cities?
Bushfires and heatwaves are expected to increase and significantly impact on Australian cities and urban communities.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy